Chancellor Opens His Door to Concerns in Budget Crisis

He wielded a majority of the decision-making powers, most notably in a controversial decision to shuffle funding allocations, an occasion when some say he muzzled disgruntled faculty members who felt the effects of minimized funds.

Miles Bryant, president of the Academic Senate at UN-L, said conflict arose because faculty members felt their voices in the matter were stifled.

"Faculty were very upset because the money came out of operational funds (for different departments)," he said.

"It was very difficult for the whole campus."

He also said Moeser employed his executive power in the matter of reallocations, leaving the rest of the campus with little say-so.

"There was not a lot of input," Bryant said. "It was pretty much done by the administration."

He pointed out that Moeser was a man with two administrative faces.

"On one hand, he was courageous for doing (reallocations), and on the other he was authoritarian in the way he did it."

Bryant said Moeser is a strong-willed man -- for better or for worse.

"(UNC's) new chancellor is not afraid of making controversial decisions," he said. "He can be fairly firm in decision-making."

And although evidence of Moeser's strong leadership traits have been prevalent since his arrival at the University, he seems to be taking a different approach to dealing with the UNC community.

With less than a year of UNC experience under his belt, Moeser seems to have muted his bark on budgetary concerns and opened his door to the community members' suggestions.

Facing a mandate from the N.C. General Assembly, Moeser is confronting the task of cutting UNC's annual budget by about 7 percent. UNC's proposal would eliminate about $25 million, jeopardizing about 80 faculty positions and depleting library funds by 45 percent.

Moeser said UNC's plan of attack for shifting money and cutting funds will be a group effort.

"Anything we do here will be driven by bottom-up, not top-directed, input," he said.

This philosophy seems to be a shift from his earlier days as chancellor at UN-L.

He, along with Provost Robert Shelton, contacted all departments and deans to discuss specific budget cuts proposals.

Shelton said giving the deans and departments a strong voice in the matter is a management principle he and Moeser will try to employ.

"It is wise for us to relay our leadership here and say ... it is your (specific) area, you decide how to make the cuts."

He said this is a better approach because the deans know their particular programs more thoroughly than the administration and are better equipped to decide what should get trimmed.

And if he's willing to listen, there is plenty to hear, especially with the looming budget crisis.

Students and faculty are already in the midst of keeping Moeser to his promise of seeking out their opinions.

Shelton said a faculty forum is planned for next Thursday to relay concerns between faculty and administrators about the cuts.

Sue Estroff, chairwoman of Faculty Council, said she encourages students to follow this lead and hold meetings and discussions about what should be preserved in the cuts.

"This is the time for the community to come together and say 'wait a second, this is what matters most.'"

The proposed budget cuts place Moeser in a very precarious situation, leaving him to decide what the University can ultimately spare.

Moeser said his main priorities, with or without looming budget cuts, coincide with those of the University's three-pronged mission of teaching, research and public service.

"We want to protect instruction ... protect our research mission and our service mission."

Bryant said Moeser had very distinct priorities while reallocating funds during his time at UN-L.

Bryant said Moeser focused on areas outside the realm of the arts.

"We put some money into distance learning ... and we spent money on trying to beef up research productivity," Bryant said.

"Arts and Sciences took a fairly big hit in terms of reallocations."

The brunt of the budget storm might make similar dents in UNC's academic framework.

Moeser said the effects of the proposed budget slashes are inevitable.

"No one will get away unscathed from the cuts," he said.

"We have to do some clear focusing on academic priorities."

But first, Moeser plans to fight.

He said this kind of depletion is unacceptable and will be challenged.

"Our strategy is to create and orchestrate a campaign to avoid these cuts," Moeser said.

"I think the people of this state will speak with a very loud voice to avoid the budget cuts."

Moeser said his recommendation is to eliminate programs to compensate for budget reduction, but he would not comment on what specific types of programs would be dismissed to accommodate the budget crunch in a worst-case scenario.

He remained optimistic, saying, "I don't think that in the short term we will see any program eliminations."

One of Moeser's academic priorities is to keep faculty salaries competitive with other universities', enabling UNC to recruit new faculty as well as retain faculty already teaching at the University.

Moeser said the money from the tuition increase passed last year by the Board of Governors, increasing tuition by $600 over the next two years, will not be used to compensate for the budget reduction and instead will go toward faculty salaries as promised.

"I believe strongly that (the money) should support faculty salaries, especially Arts and Sciences faculty," he said.

But whatever comes of the current funding war with Raleigh or any other dilemmas down the road, Moeser's administrators say the decisions made will incorporate the input of the entire University community.

Shelton said, "I think the chancellor values student input tremendously and faculty as well."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.